


Like We Were Used To It

by AintNoLieIm



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bubbline, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2020-04-24 13:48:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19174549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AintNoLieIm/pseuds/AintNoLieIm
Summary: After the loss of her mother and brother, Bonnibel moves to a new town with her father; just as she is getting back to her normal life, the delinquent Marceline shows her that sometimes to move on, you have to change parts of who you used to be.Highschool AU; M for later chapters; Not sure how many chapters yet, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, got the idea for this fic at 1am and just started writing. I have a few chapters so far, figured I'd post and see if there was any interest in seeing a completed work in the future. I'm an English major but I can only do so much, so sorry if there are some stupid grammar/punctuation mistakes! This is also my first time posting on AO3, so if you have any tips, lemme know! The title of the fic is based on the song "Used To It (Stripped)" by Ashe if anyone cares about that kind of thing. Here we go, y'all.

There was a crisp, fresh smell in the air as Bonnibel took the last remaining box out of the moving truck and walked it inside. She welcomed the cooler air of the late hour; they had been moving all day, having gotten into the town of Ooo earlier that morning and she was tired, hot, and hungry. Her father had ordered Chinese after realizing that without the help of their neighbors, it was going to take much longer to unpack. When Bonnibel walked into the house she nearly collapsed at the kitchen table with the box still in her hands.  
“I’m going to die if I don’t get food in me within the next minute” she groaned at her father.  
Mr. Baeder gave her a tired smile. His sandy blond hair a mess on the top of his head and his shirt wrinkled from the work, sporting a new hole from the corner of the table they sat at. He pushed the box of orange chicken to his daughter,  
“Better eat then, we still have work to do tomorrow and I’m not doing it alone.”  
She laughed lightly at his joke, taking the box. They ate in silence for a while, taking the time to adjust to their new surroundings. Their new home was smaller than when Bonnibel was used to, but their family was also smaller than it used to be, so it made sense for them. All day they had been shoving boxes into each of the rooms; her father’s study on the first floor was mostly filled with office supplies and all of the paperwork he was going to need when he started running the local candy factory. Above his study, on the second floor, was his room, the bathroom adjacent to it and Bonnibel’s room at the end of the hall. The large living room was filled with furniture, as well as all of the boxes that they would have to go through tomorrow, but for today they were more than done.  
“Excited to start at your new school?”  
Her father’s voice startled her out of her interior decorating plans, “I guess,” she shrugged, “I don’t know what to expect, really. This school is so much bigger than the one back home, and I don’t know anyone.”  
Her father nodded in understanding, “I’m sorry we had to move, Bell” he looked at her and his sad eyes told her that he was sorry for more than that, but the words were left unspoken.  
“It’s fine dad, I’ll pull through, I heard they have really nice labs in their science department too. Even if I don’t make any friends, at least I’ll have that.” She smiled at her dad, trying to convince him that she was going to be okay, that they were going to be okay in this new town, in their new life, without mom, without Neddy. She got up and hugged her dad before going up to bed for the night, not wanting him to see the tears that she felt coming in her chest.  
***  
The weekend came and went quickly as they unpacked and rearranged until their house felt as close to home as they could get. Bonnibel woke up Monday morning fully ready to be absorbed into her bed and disappear, not wanting to have to start her life again at this new school. After showering and pulling her hair—which had faded to a rose gold color after dying it a few months ago—into a messy bun, not wanting to deal with it for the day. She pulled on her dark jeans and a dark pink sweater, preparing for the colder weather that was forecasted for the day, and looked herself over in the mirror. She had always been told that she looked just like her father growing up, but now that she was nearing adulthood, her mother’s features were starting to take prominence. Her chest-length hair usually framed a heart-shaped face with her mother’s deep green eyes and slightly turned up nose. She had always looked at her features with the sole thought of how they could be better, or how she would change them if it were possible, however lately all she could do as she stared into the mirror was think about how those same eyes used to shine at her when she accomplished something at school, how they used to say, ”I’m proud of you” with no words, even if she had done nothing but enjoy herself at a party. Or how that same nose had looked while smelling a flower that she had just picked on her way home. She looked away from the mirror before her thoughts turned dark and started down the stairs to the kitchen. Her father had already left early that morning to get to a board meeting at the factory’s headquarters, so she was left to fend for herself for breakfast. A bowl of Count-Chocula and a good 5 minutes of procrastination later, she was driving to Ooo High, home of the Ooo High Heroes.  
***  
“You must be Ms. Baeder!” was the first thing she heard when she walked into the main office of the school, late and beating herself over that 5-minute procrastination break. The source of the sunny exclamation was a middle-aged woman who was coming around to the front of the front desk, and before she could confirm and apologize for her tardiness, the woman continued, ”Welcome! And Happy first day of school! We have everything set up for you to start your day; here’s a sheet with your timetable, locker number and combination, the name and phone number of your first-week buddy, as well as a list of things you might want to get if you haven’t already!” The woman smiled brightly as she handed Bonnibel the packet, “Now, usually your first-week buddy would be here to show you around the school today, however, she has called in sick for the day, so we’re in a little bit of a pickle! We’re trying to get you set up with a fill-in just for today, so if you just want to sit tight, we’ll get right on that!”  
“I really don’t think that’s necessary, Mrs.—”  
“Bradwell!” She offered.  
“Mrs. Bradwell. I’m sure I can find everything just fine on my own with all of this information”  
“I don’t doubt it, Ms. Baeder, however, we here at Ooo High find our buddy system to be very beneficial for our new students in helping them feel welcomed and accepted in our community here!”  
“But—” any argument Bonnibel was going to make was cut off by the sound of the office door slamming open.  
“Ms. Abadeer, how joyous of you to join us today,” Mrs. Bradwell’s sunny disposition faded into a tired and sarcastic tone as if the girl in front of them now were a cloud in her day.  
“Your excuse today?” she continued with a sigh, grabbing a clipboard with the words “LATE CHECKIN” at the top from the other side of the desk. The name ‘Abadeer’ was scribbled on the sheet more often than not.  
The girl was dressed in a black tank top and loose red flannel, her black skinny jeans leading to combat boots. She replied to Mrs. Bradwell’s question with a quick, “no.”  
As annoying as this girl already seemed, Bonnibel couldn’t help but to stare at her; her eyes were a deep brown and in the natural light from the window they melted like pools of honey. Her hair was jet black and fell loosely to the start of long legs. Her features were sharp and her confidence seemed to demand attention from the whole room. Bonnibel looked away before she was caught gawking, and the secretary scribbled on the paper with another sigh before handing it to the girl to sign. As she handed it over, Mrs. Bradwell brightened up with a somewhat mischievous grin on her face.  
“Marceline, meet Bonnibel Baeder, I’m sure you won’t mind showing her around on her first day, right?”  
The dark girl squinted at Bonnibel as if just noticing her and then looked incredulously at the secretary.  
“Are you fucking serious, Sharon? Do I look like I want to cart around a newbie all day?”  
Bonnibel winced at her words, shocked that she would use such distasteful language at an adult and embarrassed that she was now being referred to as a chore from the girl that she had just been admiring.  
“Really Mrs. Bradwell, I’ll be fine on my own, the resources that you gave me will get me by just fine!”  
Bonnibel’s plea went unheard by either woman, as they seemed to be in a staring contest.  
“It’s for one day Marceline, just until Rae comes back to school tomorrow.”  
“Like I give a shit?” The girl scoffed.  
“You can either show Bonnibel around or sit with the three detentions you just gathered for your tardiness and language use, it’s up to you how you want to spend your time,” the older woman said the last part with a shrug.  
“…Fuck” Marceline muttered under her breath.  
“Four detentions.”  
The dark girl looked Bonnibel up and down as if seriously contemplating whether she would rather spend a day with her, or four hours in detention. She finally walked past her and opened the door to the entrance of the school. She stopped halfway through the door, looking back with a frown and an eye-roll that could tilt the world.  
“Come on, Princess. Your castle awaits”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The majority of my chapters will probably be short, hopefully that doesn't disappoint :)


	2. Blood Beneath Her Skin

2 minutes into this hell and Marceline was already ready to go up to the roof and jump.  
“Honestly, you obviously don’t want to do this and I’m not going to be a punishment. Just leave and let me figure this out on my own.”  
The girl was struggling to keep up with Marceline’s pace, her face annoyed and red, whether it was from embarrassment or the half-jog she was doing to keep up, Marceline didn’t know, nor care.  
“It doesn’t work like that, Princess. Sharon’s got eyes everywhere. If you’re seen without me in the halls today, I’m in detention for four hours this week. You’re stuck with me.”  
Marceline suddenly came to a halt, causing Bonnibel to run into her side and nearly fall before being caught by the raven-haired girl.  
“Timetable” she demanded; her hand stretched out.  
Annoyed green eyes caught brown and they stood there for a second before Bonnibel finally gave in and thrust the packet she had been holding into the other girl’s hand. The brown eyes grew wide when she looked at the classes before her.  
“History of Western Civilization, AP Chemistry, Lunch Break, Calculus and last period P.E,” she scoffed, “Kay Princess, looks like we’re starting the day together and ending it together.”  
With an eye roll, she started walking again. “Come on, we’re already late as hell, don’t want to fuck up your reputation already” She said behind her shoulder. The pink-haired girl quickly caught up to her, snatching the timetable out of her hands and grabbing her wrist, turning her around.  
“Listen. I don’t give a shit who you think you are. I’m just trying to get through my first day without exploding into a pool of anxiety, and you’re doing a really good job of distracting me by pissing me off. I don’t know what’s worse at this point. If you’re going to just push me around and make fun of me all day then you can just screw off and take your four detentions because I’m not going to deal with this.” By the end of her sentence she realized that she had been yelling, and when the other girl looked down, she also realized that she still had a grip on her wrist. She let go, her face turning to a bright shade of pink. “Sorry, I’m usually not that aggressive, but it needed to be said”  
Marceline’s lips turned into a smirk at the apology, “It’s fine princess, I don’t mind,” she said with a suggestive wink. Bonnibel’s face turned a deep red before her guide turned around and started walking again. “But really, we should probably get you to class, we’re like 20 minutes late.” Bonnibel gasped and ran, catching up to the taller girl just as she was about to enter the classroom.  
“Abadeer, nice of you to join us today!” Marceline gave a small two-finger salute to the instructor up front before quickly making her way to one of the only seats left in the back, not bothering to check whether or not Bonnibel had made it or not.  
“And you must be Ms. Baeder!” The instructor deduced quickly.  
“Bonnibel,” she corrected, “Sorry for being late,” she said quietly.  
“No trouble at all, we’re only going over the syllabus today,” he said, handing her two packets, “I’m Mr. King, would you mind giving one of these to Marceline back there too when you take your seat?” She nodded and made her way back to the only available seat next to Marceline, sliding the paper to her.  
The girl seemed to make herself right at home already, slouched in her seat with her legs up on the table. She was untangling earbuds that she had taken out of the pocket of her flannel before Bonnibel took them with a disapproving look, replacing them in her hands with the syllabus. She realized that she may have made a mistake when she saw the look in the other girl’s eyes, her eyebrows nearing the top of her forehead incredulously, her honey eyes swimming with irritation. She held the eye contact steadfast with one eyebrow raised in a challenge before the girl gave up with a sigh and instead looked at the paper now on her lap. Satisfied, Bonnibel set the girl’s earbuds on top of the paper a minute later, now neatly wrapped. A light laugh escaped the olive-skinned girl’s mouth before returning them to her flannel pocket as Mr. King droned on about the course materials for the semester.  
After the bell rang, Bonnibel was half-way surprised when she was not abandoned immediately, and Marceline instead leaned up against the table, waiting for her to gather her things in her backpack.  
“Come on, Bonnie, don’t have all day, Chemistry waits for no one.” With a sigh, Bonnibel hefted her bag onto her shoulders, ignoring the nickname.  
“Is the whole day going to be like this?” She asked, exhausted already.  
The other woman shrugged. “We’ll see how I feel after the next class ends.”  
As they started off to the STEM wing of the school, the new girl was for once thankful to have her guide. She hadn’t noticed it before, but this school was massive compared to her old one. The building was shaped into five cubes, one designated for each area of study. Marceline surprisingly tried to do her best to explain the shape of the building and where each wing was, more than likely just so she wouldn’t have to deal with the other girl asking so many questions.  
“There’s five cubes total, one for STEM, one for History—which we just came from—one for the arts and culture, one for Language, and the last one is the cafeteria” The girl continued, “Their pretty up and tight about the STEM shit here; when the building was first built they insisted on having two floors, just so they could put some of the classrooms up there. The extra space upstairs is where you’re going to find most of your teacher’s offices.”  
Bonnie could feel her excitement build as they neared the classrooms; she missed her teachers from her old school, but she would be lying if she said that she was thinking of them at all as she entered the cube designated for STEM—her old school barely had a lab, and when they entered the cube nearly every door had the words “LAB” on them. Marceline heard the small gasp that the girl gave when they entered the science wing and looked over at her, noting the expression of pure wonder and excitement—nerd—she thought with a smile, shaking her head. She had to admit that the girl was cute. Her faded pink hair was in a bun at the top of her head, but a few strands had come loose, framing her face nicely. Her green eyes were full of such childlike elation, it made Marceline’s stomach flip when those eyes looked up at her; noticing that the other girl was a few inches shorter than her. She quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught with the soft expression—she had a reputation to hold, after all, it was bad enough that she had to be seen toting the girl around like some first-week prep.  
“AP Chem lab is right here,” she stopped and pointed to a door slightly ahead, “I’ll meet you here after your class gets done”  
“Thank you” Bonnie said, apparently to the void, because Marceline had apparently vanished as soon as she was finished with her sentence. What the hell was her issue?


	3. The Third One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No clever title for this one, soz  
> New Characters  
> Long(er)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates probably won't come this quickly for the whole work, I'm excited about this story so we're just going with it.

She had to get out of there as soon as she recognized the feeling in her stomach— _fucking butterflies _— she barely knew the girl, she told herself, she was annoying, she even grabbed her! _Yeah, and you winked at her for it, you idiot _, she chastised herself. No, she needed to leave her alone so that she could thrive in preppy, nerdy heaven.____  
The last girl that she had dated was in eighth grade, and it only lasted a month. But what a month that was. Pheobe and herself were both such intense and independent women, even at that age, that their relationship was a roller-coaster until it crashed. The only other relationship she had had was with her ex-boyfriend last year—they dated the whole year until summer when he figured out that he couldn’t control her, that she wouldn’t be anyone’s pet. She dumped him after a lengthy screaming match that took her voice off the stage for a week.  
“Abadeer!” The girl turned towards the sound of Kelia’s voice, who was now pushing a group of students in order to get to her. “Get the fuck out of my way Mertins” she spat at one of the boys. The path was soon cleared as the late-bell sounded and students clambered into their rooms.  
“Dude, I heard you got put on first-week duty?!” She said, laughing already.  
Marceline pushed her lightly, “Shut up. Fucking Bradwell made me do it because I was late today. And it’s just until the prep-of-the-week comes back tomorrow.”  
“Alright, alright,” she said, putting her arms up in fake surrender, “You still good to go to the gig after school?”  
“Yeah, wouldn’t miss it.”  
“You better get your ass to class then, Abadeer, first-week duties don’t make you immune to detentions and we’re not going to go without you again this week,” she continued as she walked backwards into her classroom.  
“ _Fuck _” she muttered under her breath before taking off in the other direction towards the arts cube.__  
***  
Bonnibel found herself smiling through the whole class; her instructor, Dr. Petrikov, could clearly be teaching college level classes. Even on syllabus day, she could see his passion when talking about the subjects that they would be going over throughout the semester. The class was over before she knew it, and she found herself introducing herself to the instructor.  
“Hi, I’m—”  
“Bonnibel! Right, the new girl. Welcome!”  
“Thanks, I just wanted to say I’m very excited to be in your class, you obviously have a passion for the sciences, it’s refreshing to see that from a teacher,”  
“You flatter me—Oh! Marce! Come on in, girl!” Bonnibel was just about to go into a discussion about the course materials when the professor was interrupted. She looked over to see that her first-day guide was lazily leaning against the door frame watching them.  
“Hey Simon, just here to pick up the little nerd,” she said, a small smirk playing on her lips.  
“Oh, are you her first-week-buddy?! How peculiar!” The man seemed way too excited about the predicament, clasping his hands together as his eyes went wide behind his round blue glasses.  
“Rae is sick so I got stuck with it, don’t get too excited old man,” His excitement died, although his smile still stayed on his face.  
“Come on, Bon, places to meet, people to be.”  
Bonnibel rolled her eyes at the girl, “Thank you Dr. Petrikov, it was a pleasure meeting you.”  
“You as well! Say hi to your father for me, Marceline!”  
She brushed past the girl as she gave Dr. Petrikov the same small salute that she had given Mr. King earlier that day.  
“What is with you?” the shorter girl asked Marceline, almost immediately after leaving the classroom. She shrugged, making one of the sleeves of her flannel slip off her shoulders.  
She glanced at Bonnie, who was now looking straight forward, her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. _God, she’s cute when she’s mad. _She shook the thought out of her mind.__  
“Whaddaya mean, Princess?” the words were a lazy jumbled mess, but Bonnie managed to answer the girl quickly; “I mean,” She said, touching the girl’s exposed shoulder to stop her, “You act like nothing and nobody matters. All that you’ve done today is insult me, flirt with me” _shit, she noticed _, ”and if it weren’t for name plaques, I wouldn’t know any of my teacher’s names because you refuse to treat anyone with an ounce of respect!”__  
Marceline was quiet for a second, avoiding eye contact by starting at the wall behind Bonnie’s head. She bit her bottom lip in thought before looking into the girl’s eyes, her own now lacking the sweetness that they had before. “Cafeteria is down the hall and to the right; I’ll meet you after—I’m not getting another detention because of you.”  
With that, the other girl walked away to the arts and culture cube, leaving Bonnibel to figure out the cafeteria on her own, with no answer to her question.  
***  
As terrible as her delinquent guide was, she did point her in the correct direction thankfully. Entering the cafeteria was a culture shock to Bonnie. Moving from her old town of 2,000 people to Ooo with a population of over 30,000 had already had its quirks, but lunch was going to kill her; she would have even welcomed her brooding guide at this point. The cafeteria took up two floors of one cube; the ceiling of the first floor had been taken out, a top floor railing exposed an upper-level seating area that was already filled with students. She counted five lines to get food and was about to start hyperventilating when she heard a boy’s voice beside her.  
“Insane, right?” She jumped, looking over at her new partner. His blond hair went just past his ears, his eyes were a light brown, and a loose yellow shirt supported his tall and muscular torso; khaki Bermuda shorts took up his even longer legs; he had to be at least 6 feet tall.  
“Yeah, wow, I think my old school’s cafeteria was a quarter this size.”  
“Ha, yeah, I know the feeling. I transferred in the middle of freshman year. Jake” he said, extending his hand.  
She took it, “Bonnibel, and thank you, this is insane, two floors, for a cafeteria!” she shook her head.  
“Well hey, you can come sit with us, my girlfriend Rae is gone today but I’m sure everyone else would love to meet you.”  
“Thank you, Jake, I would love that” The pair grabbed their lunches—with five lines, it was quick and painless. Jake led them to a large circular table where there were already four other students.  
“Hey guys, this is Bonnie, she’s new, so be gentle,” Jake then continued, pointing at each individual, “That’s my brother Finn and his girlfriend Heather,” he pointed to the couple who each gave their own greetings. The boy, Finn, was wearing a light blue shirt that nearly matched his eyes, he was less toned than his brother and a bit shorter, his shoulder-length hair in a ponytail. His girlfriend, Heather, was small but muscular from what Bonnie could see through her green long sleeved t-shirt, “Pheobe,”He pointed at a girl with hair a few shades darker than her shirt who waved happily at her, “and Beatrice, but you can just call them Bea,” he pointed at the final person at the table who was wearing a teal sweater with glasses perched on their nose. “Ellie usually doesn’t come over here unless she has gossip to share or if there’s drama, but you might see her around,” he finished his introductions and sat with the group, gesturing for her to follow suit.  
“Nice to meet you all,” she said as she sat down.  
“So what brings you to Ooo, Bonnie?” Finn looked like he could barely control his excitement; if Heather hadn’t had her hand on his arm, Bonnibel was sure that he would have switched seats to join her.  
“My dad got a new job; he’s the new regional manager for Kingdom Candy; we just moved here on Friday”  
“Exciting! So have you been anywhere in town then?” Phoebe looked excited to see a new face; however, she was calmer than the boy to her right.  
“Not really; any restaurants we’ve eaten have all been delivered. It’s just the two of us so we’ve been very busy”  
“You have to come to Tree’s with us after school then!” Beemo offered, to which everyone else at the table nodded eagerly.  
“Can you? They have the best pie there!” Finn’s eyes lit up.  
“He’s right; I don’t really care for sweets that much, but T’s pies are to die for.” Heather continued for her boyfriend, moving her hand from his arm when she saw that he wasn’t going to do anything drastic to scare away the new girl.  
“I’d have to text my dad, but I’d love to.” She felt a weight lift from her shoulders. After spending the whole morning with someone who apparently would rather starve than spend another moment with her, it was nice to feel so accepted into this group.  
“So who is showing you around? Rae called me at like 3am throwing up, so I know it’s not her.” Jake questioned.  
“Uhm, Marceline Abadeer. She walked into the office late and Mrs. Bradwell said that it was either show me around or get four detentions, so now we’re both suffering.” She ended with a sigh, placing her fork down and looking at the wide eyes that came from around the table.  
“Shit dude, how are you alive?” came from Heather  
“I don’t think I could spend a class period with her, let alone being stuck with her all day, how have you not been killed, or at least bodily injured?” Jake, along with everyone else at the table, seemed skeptical of her well-being.  
“She’s insufferable; she’s at least showing me where things are, but not without a max amount of restraint. She barely calls teachers by their last names so I have no clue what to call them, and we’ve gotten into two fights with one another so far, one time I had to actually grab her because she wouldn’t slow down. I don’t know how anyone is friends with her,” She finished.  
“Try dating her” scoffed Phoebe, which was barely noticed when Jake yelled.  
“You _grabbed _Marceline Abadeer?!” Jake’s eyes were as wide as saucers, along with most people at the table.__  
“How are you not dead?!” came from Bea at the other side of the table.  
Bonnibel shrugged, “It’s not like she’s actually going to hurt me, guys, she’s just a pain in the ass”  
“Says you,” Finn continued, “last year she shoved someone into a locker because they wouldn’t get out of her way in the hall fast enough—her friend Keila nearly did it to me before the last class! Not to mention what she did to her Ellie’s car!”  
“Ellie deserved that one after what she was spreading around though; I would have done the same thing” offered Phoebe.  
“Okay, but you’re also a little insane Phoebe” said Heather with raised brows. Phoebe could only respond with a shrug.  
“Be careful, Bonnie,” Jake said in earnest, which Bea continued, “Yeah, you don’t want to die before you’ve tasted Tree’s Pie!” The bell to signal the end of lunch sounded then, and Bonnibel had to admit that she was a little more fearful to meet up with her first-day guide, especially after how they had ended things before.


	4. Her Favorite Color Became Brown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another side of Marceline makes an appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought I had a life with other things to do? Hah.  
> But forreal y'all, thanks for your comments and kudos, it means a lot! Keep leaving them and I'll keep writing! I mean, I'll probably still write, kudos or not, but they sure help!

Bonnibel’s new friends fell silent as they were exiting the cafeteria when they saw Marceline; Bonnie almost didn’t notice her. She was sitting on the floor against the wall, one leg tucked in, the other propping up her elbow, her head resting on her knuckles and facing the other way, long hair hiding the features of her face. Noticing the silence, she turned her head and looked up at the group approaching her, smiling genuinely for the first time that day as she rose to her feet.  
“Hey Pheebs,” she said, tucking her hands in her pockets before meeting the red-haired girl’s eyes.  
“Hey, Marce. Don’t kill this one, yeah? We’re taking her to Tree’s after school.”  
Marceline laughed genuinely, “Sure thing, I try not to make a habit of killing my audience,” she said with a wink to Bonnibel.  
“Oh shit, they’re letting you play again tonight?”  
“Yeah, it’s a calmer show tonight though, T made sure after what happened last time—plus my dad would kill me if he had to replace another table there.” She looked at Bonnibel, putting a hand on the back of her neck nervously, “Hey, can we talk?”  
Bonnibel seemed shocked at the change in demeanor; it was a 180 from the cold woman that had been dragging her around earlier that morning. She looked to her new friends who all seemed to be slightly concerned, except for Phoebe, before answering the girl.  
“Yeah, that’s fine.”  
The group left the two after exchanging phone numbers with promises to text her before they left that night.  
“Class starts in like 10 minutes, Marceline,” she said, glancing at her watch.  
“Nah, I went to Bradwell and told her I needed to show you your locker and give you a tour yet because we were late this morning, so we have an extra half hour. I got your Calc syllabus” she said, taking off her bag and reaching in for the paper, which was now slightly crumpled before handing it to her.  
“Listen, I’m sorry,” she started, “I’m an asshole, and I didn’t need to make your first-day hell to prove that. And…you actually seem like a good person; you don’t deserve that. I hope you can forgive me, but if not, I’ll just give you this tour and see if Bradwell will give me a Saturday detention or something.” She hadn’t taken her hands out of her pockets the whole speech, and it wasn’t until she looked at Bonnie that she realized that she also hadn’t been making any eye contact with her. Bonnie resisted the urge to hug the girl; her eyes were sad and nervous, and when she took one hand out of her pocket to run her hand through her hair, she noticed a tremble.  
“Thank you, it means a lot to hear that,” Bonnibel answered, touching her shoulder, “I’d love to start over, and I’d love that tour, this place is insane.”  
If there was any doubt of her attraction to the girl, it evaporated as soon as she saw the huge smile that broke out on Marceline’s face. Her sharp features softened and her eyes brightened at Bonnibel’s words.  
“Yeah? Cool, thanks. You’re going to Tree’s tonight?” The girl asked, the smile still on her face.  
“Yeah, I think so, they just invited me over lunch,” she said, gesturing in the general direction of where the group had headed.  
“Awesome, I’ll be playing with my band there. We usually do rock shows, but we’re only allowed to do softer stuff after what happened last month” Her hand went back to her neck, and she rocked back on her heels, “but uhm, we should get going if I’m going to show you around this place in time for you to get to your Calc class before it ends.”  
Bonnibel nodded, and they started their tour. Marceline’s tours were…different than what she was expecting.  
“If you want to skip class and take a nap, there’s a space behind this stairwell,” she said, showing Bonnie the aforementioned space, “Keila and I cleaned it out freshman year as soon as we found it, it’s a bring your own blanket situation, but if you keep one in your locker, it shouldn’t be an issue.”  
Bonnibel raised a disapproving eyebrow at Marceline, which she ignored.  
“You probably recognize this as the STEM cube, and going clockwise it goes History, Arts and Culture—or A&C, Language, and then the Cafeteria, which we just came from” She scoffed when she looked over and saw that the pink-haired girl was actually taking notes.  
“Come on, nerd, let me show you your locker,” She said, continuing up the stairs. “This is the upper-level STEM cube, down the hall here is where the majority of teachers have their offices—if they don’t have an office here you’ll probably just find them in their classrooms,” she said, walking past the offices, “and here…are the upper-classmen lockers. Freshman and Sophomores have their lockers spread in the halls downstairs, but once Junior year hits, they get moved up here. What’s the number?” She questioned the girl, who surprisingly had been taking notes the whole time she had been talking. She looked up, and then scrambled for the first-day packet she had in her backpack.  
“Uhm…258.”  
“Sick, I’m 257, right across the hall.” She confidently brought towards the locker, “Even numbers are going to be on this side of the hall,” she said, pointing to her right, ”Odds, on the other side. Right, here we are, open er’ up for practice, the combo should be below your locker number.” Bonnibel quickly opened the locker on the first try, placing the heavy chemistry book she had gotten in her last class in the small shelf. Marceline quickly went across the hall and opened her locker.  
“Don’t you lock that?” Bonnibel questioned, noticing that the lock on the door wasn’t latched, only hanging on the lock.  
“Nah, people know not to mess with my shit,” she said, grabbing a small rolled up black blanket from the top shelf, “Here, I know you probably aren’t going to use the nap spot, but when it’s warmer out people can go outside during lunch and lounge on the grass, so it’s nice to have one anyways.” She extended the blanket to the girl, who took it with a small smile and raised brow.  
“Bats?”  
The other girl shrugged, “I don’t carry pink, sorry Princess.”  
Bonnie rolled her eyes, “What is it with that?”  
“What?”  
“Princess?” she said with air-quotes.  
“Eh, I can just tell you’re going to do well here. Well, you could, until Ellie sees that I’m being nice to you.”  
“Is that such a rare thing?” she said, placing the black blanket on top along with her chem book.  
Her hand went up to her neck again; Bonnie was realizing that it was probably the cutest nervous habit she had seen on a person. “I have a reputation” was the only thing that she said.  
“I heard a little bit at lunch,” when she saw the concerned look on Marceline’s face, she continued, ”Not that much, just that you apparently pushed a kid into a locker and did something to Ellie’s car?”  
“Yeah, sounds about right. People tend to piss me off easily. And Ellie definitely deserved that,” she said, voice rising slightly, ”That bitch told the whole school that I fucked her boyfriend Brad in order to justify breaking up with him. Honestly, I was going to do more but Keila pulled me back”  
“What did you do?” she said, concerned.  
“Keyed it and broke her taillights,” The black-haired girl said with a shrug, “You should have seen her face when she saw it though,” she said, laughing now.  
“You stuck around afterward?”  
“Yeah, Keila tried to get me to leave, but no way was I going to let her think it was anyone else but me,” she said, her voice took on a timbre of pride as she continued her sentence, “so I laid right on top of her car and smoked a cig until she came out. Drew a nice picture with my key while I waited.”  
“Marceline!” The girl exclaimed, eyes wide.  
“What?! I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t proud of that one, and I don’t want to lie to you. Come on,” she said, walking away, “let's finish this tour and get you on your way.”  
Bonnie jogged to catch up with her, catching her as she started down the stairs. The two went down silently, and Bonnie was surprised when instead of going straight towards the classrooms, she instead turned towards the doors leading outside.  
“Where the hell are we going?” Bonnibel’s question went unanswered as the other girl walked ahead of her, pushed the doors open and walked out.  
“Live a little, Princess. We have like 15 minutes of freedom before you have to go to class, would you rather sit in calculus or enjoy the weather?”  
Bonnie declined to answer, knowing that she would be judged if she gave a truthful answer. She was surprised when they walked outdoors, noticing that the weather app on her phone had been wrong about the forecast that day. The sun was warm, at least for September, but there was a light breeze which made her sweater not so useless. Marceline continued walking ahead, checking back ever-so-often, making sure that the other girl was following her. Once again, Bonnie found herself staring at the girl. Her long black mane was carelessly floating behind her, the sun tinting it a deep amber color where it touched; whenever she looked back, Bonnie could see the lighter honey tones of her eyes being caressed by the sun. They finally found the spot Marceline was bringing them to; a large willow tree in the field behind the school. The girl took her backpack off and reached inside, pulling out a red and black flannel blanket just big enough for the two of them.  
“Always be prepared,” She said with a wink to Bonnie’s questioning look. She sat down on the blanket, patting the space next to her as an invitation to the other girl, which she reluctantly took. Marceline relaxed, propping herself on her elbows with her legs crossed. Bonnibel accepted after a minute that maybe just this one time she could relax—I mean, this was a tour, and _technically _this was school grounds, so it was a tour of the campus. She took in their surroundings; to the left of them was the road and the area where buses would pick up students at the end of the day, but to the right there was a field and trees, she noticed a house on the other side of the trees and was about to ask Marceline a question about the building she saw off in the distance when she heard the loud sound of a lighter. When she looked over, she noticed a cigarette in the girl’s mouth as she looked at the traffic passing by. She quickly took the cigarette out of her fingers in the middle of the girls first drag, causing her to cough in surprise.__  
“What the fuck, Baeder!” She exclaimed as the pink girl put it out on the ground next to her.  
“Do you want lung cancer? Because that’s how you get lung cancer!” She said, eyes wide and disapproving. The other girl glared at her and slowly reached across her lap, her breasts touching the other girls’ legs in a way that she tried to ignore, and grabbed the cigarette that had been abandoned. She ripped off the end that had been smashed and stared at Bonnibel as she lit it again, taking in a drag.  
“They’re my lungs, I’ll do with them what I like.” She said, returning to her lounging position.  
“Well, I’m not going to sit here and ruin mine.” The other girl got up and started walking quickly back to the building. She heard Marceline quietly swear behind her and scramble before she felt her grab her wrist in the same way that she had earlier in the day. She ignored the electricity she felt in her body at the touch and faced the girl, taking her wrist back and crossing her arms with an annoyed expression.  
“Fuck, I’m sorry Bon; I honestly didn’t think of that, it was thoughtless and selfish as fuck and I’m sorry. I'm...I'm not used to being around nonsmokers— and that's a shit excuse, but not as bad as the excuse that I'm not used to being nice to people. I’ll take you to Calc now if you want.” Bonnie was finding it increasingly difficult to stay mad at the girl in front of her, and she realized why.  
“Are those puppy-dog eyes?” The raven-haired girl's eyes were wide and pleading, more than they needed to be for the situation, and her lower lip was pushed out ever so slightly, leading Bonnibel to think of what it would feel like to take it into her mouth. She cleared the thought out of her mind as the other girl replied.  
“Are they working?”  
Bonnibel rolled her eyes, “Go get your blanket, Abadeer,” she said, gesturing to the tree behind them, “and then show me where Calc is.”  


_____ _

____

The other girl gave a goofy lopsided smile before running to grab the blanket and stomp out the cigarette she had abandoned, picking up the butt and putting it in her pocket to throw away later.  
"Right, let's get your calc on, Nerd"


	5. In Her Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hug???? In Chapter 5???? Scandalous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this chapter takes place after chapter two when Marceline left Bonnie to find the cafeteria on her own  
> Honestly, not sure if this one is good or not, but here it is  
> Also, I realize that we're 5 chapters in and only half a day has passed, guys. I am the way I am, fight me.

_“Where the hell you going, Marshmallow?” Marceline visibly relaxed when she saw Keila heading towards the cafeteria and herself._  
_“Fuck, I was just about to call you. Can we skip lunch and hang for a bit?”_  
_“Sure; dang girl, you look stressed,” Keila said, “Want to go to the willow?”_  
_“I would love nothing more,” Marceline had barely finished the sentence before she started walking towards the exit. Keila had to jog to keep up with her—while Marceline had been gifted in the area of height, a full 5’9, Keila was only 5’3—keeping up with Marceline when she got into one of her moods was exercise on its own. She thankfully slowed down once she slammed through the doors leading outside._  
_“Do we need to beat someone up?” Keila said cautiously, touching the girl’s arm gently as they settled next to the tree._  
_“No, no, nothing like that,” Marceline was staring at the cars going by the school, and when she sniffled, Keila took her into a hug._  
_“Okay, what’s going on Marce?”_  
_“Why do I always do this? Every time that someone shows me an ounce of attention or care I push them away; I’m a fucking asshole,” Marceline interrupted Keila’s oncoming protest, “Seriously, this girl did nothing, she just wanted to go through her first day and maybe meet some new friends, and what do I do? A half-assed job, and I made fun of her while I did it.”_  
_“You like her, don’t you?” Keila deduced, stroking the girl’s hair._  
_“Fuck, god, I do,” another sob ripped through the woman._  
_“Good lord, Abadeer,” Keila said rolling her eyes, “tell me about her.”_  
_Marceline sat up, wiping the tears off of her cheeks with a light laugh._  
_“She’s just, she’s so pretty, and so smart, but like she doesn’t show it off, or think that she’s better than me because of it, she grabbed me and told me off because I was being an asshole and all I could think about was how good it felt for her to touch me, she didn’t give a shit about who I was, she just knew I was being a dick to her and she wasn’t going to take it. And oh my god Keila, her eyes; it’s like I could dive into them and be in the middle of a damn forest” She was rambling and she knew it, but when she looked at Keila, the shorter girl was grinning._  
_“Damn, you got it bad girl, what you gonna do about it?”_  
_“I don’t know! I fucked it up dude, there’s no way she’s going to give me the time of day after today is done. I only have today; tomorrow she’ll be toted around by Rae who will absorb her into their little group and I’ll never have a chance and I’m going to have to sit with this stupid unachievable crush; god, I even started writing a song about her and I’ve barely known her one day. I’m pathetic.”_  
_“Whoa, whoa, whoa girl, quit that. You’re Marceline fucking Abadeer, you can have whatever and whoever you want, whenever you want,” she brushed a stray tear from the girl’s cheek and continued, “but you’re going to have to take a different approach this time, love. Apologize to her. Invite her to the show tonight, maybe you can play that song, eh?” Keila bumped into her with a smile._  
_“Yeah, maybe I will.”_  
_“God, you’ve got it bad”_  
_“Shut up,” Marceline said, pushing Keila._  
_“Wipe them tears, Marce, you have to get going to the cafeteria.”_  
_“No, I think I’ve got a better plan.”_  
_“There’s the Abadeer I know!” Keila exclaimed, pulling the taller girl off of the grass._  
_Marceline set off to the front office to do some hard ass-kissing to Sharon Bradwell._  
***  
Bonnie was excited to see that she shared Calculus with both Jake as well as Phoebe when she came in late. Luckily there was a spot a row ahead of the two of them which she happily took up. To say that they were surprised to see her was an underestimation.  
“Dude, I thought Abadeer killed you or something, what the hell?” came a harsh whisper from Jake.  
“Same, I mean I know Marce, but you were gone for like a half hour, dude!” came from Phoebe, which Bonnibel laughed lightly at before responding.  
“No, she actually apologized to me,” she ignored the surprised looks on her friend’s faces, “and then she gave me a tour of the school, apparently she went to Mrs. Bradwell during lunch to ask if we could have the first part of class off to do it.”  
“Holy shit, and Bradwell actually let her? I wonder how she pulled that off, Marceline and her—”  
“Is there something that the class is missing out on back there, Jacob?” Jake was interrupted by the teacher, Mr. Lemin. Jake furiously shook his head, and they left the rest of the sentence unspoken until the end of class.  
“Seriously, dude, you must have made quite the impression on her if she went to Bradwell and _actually_ apologized. Marceline doesn’t apologize.” Jake was still shocked at the end of the class period.  
“You want to give me something to apologize for, Mertins?” Jake’s face became as white as a ghost as he saw Bonnibel’s tour-guide leaning against a wall outside their classroom. Bonnie could only laugh at the expression.  
“Come on Marcy, we have to get to gym. See you guys tonight?” She affirmed their plans for the night, ignoring Marceline’s raised brow at the nickname for her and instead grabbed the intimidating woman’s wrist and walked towards the gym.  
“Marcy?” the raven-haired girl asked as they were out of earshot from the others.  
“You have called me, ‘Princess’, ‘Bonnie’, ‘Bon’, and my least favorite, ‘Nerd’. I can have one nickname, Abadeer.” She defended, counting off the nicknames on her hand.  
Marceline smiled, not only from the nickname, but from the fact that the girl hadn’t released her wrist.  
“Kay Princess,” she said, bumping her shoulder into her, “You can have that one.”  
Marceline took in the smile that broke out on the girl’s face; it was small, but it lit up the room to her.  
“Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize I still had a grip there,” the girl suddenly dropped Marceline’s wrist in embarrassment.  
“I don’t mind, Princess,” she said, repeating what she had said earlier in the day. When Bonnie looked up at her, she gave another wink, reveling in the blush that took up the other girl’s cheeks.  
“So…I was wondering if you wanted to maybe hang out for a little bit after class? I know you probably have to practice before your show tonight, and I understand if you don’t have time or whatever, I just had a pretty good time during the tour and wanted to talk a little bit more, but again, if you—”  
“Whoa, slow down, Bon,” Marceline interrupted, “Sure, that sounds great. I have practice at 4:30, but we can chill before then.” An even bigger smile took up the girls face as they neared the gymnasium, making Marceline’s heart flutter even more.  
“Shit, you actually brought us here, good job, Baeder!”  
“That’s what happens when you take notes, you delinquent.”  
“Nerd.”  
When the two walked into the gym, they were laughing, which caught the attention of a girl across the gym that Bonnibel didn’t recognize. Before she knew it, the girl was standing in front of the two of them.  
“Hi, I’m Ellie,” she said, thrusting a hand out towards Bonnibel. She took it with a wary glance towards Marceline, who seemed to be plotting the girl’s death with only a look.  
“Uhm, hi, Bonnibel.”  
“So, what unfortunate circumstances did you have to go through to get _her _as a first-week buddy?” Bonnie wasn’t sure if she heard the girl correctly, however when she looked at the murderous look in Marcy’s face, she instantly felt her anger rise.__  
“I’m not going to entertain this,” Bonnie said definitively, “I understand that you two have issues, but I’m not going to be used as a pawn in your little revenge game.” Just then, a whistle blew from the other side of the room, startling the group and leading Ellie to jog to the source of the noise.  
“Come on, Marcy,” she said, grabbing the girl’s hand.  
“I’m going to fucking kill her. If she thought her car was bad, just wait until class is done.” Marceline was now walking too quickly for Bonnie, her long legs making the distance quickly. Bonnie again found herself jogging to keep up, her hand still in the other girl’s tight grip. She used that grip, tugging to stop the taller girl, whose face was a storm when she looked at her.  
“Quit. You’re being ridiculous. It was an off-hand comment meant to get a rile out of you. You’re only giving her what she wants. Look at her,” Bonnie gestured towards the other girl, and Marceline reluctantly pulled her gaze from the calm forest of the other girl’s eyes to look at the Ellie, who was standing at the semi-circle that had formed ahead of them, talking to another girl next to her and laughing while looking at the pair.  
“Right, yeah, no, she’s dead.” Bonnibel kept her grip on the other girl’s hand, keeping her back.  
“Marceline. I really want to hang out with you after school, and that’s not going to happen if you get a detention.” The girl’s words finally stopped her from pulling. She looked at Bonnibel, considering the other girls’ words before sighing.  
“Fine. El should thank you for this, really.”  
“Abadeer! What the hell are you doing with the new girl over there?! Huddle up, you two!” came from the teacher, a balding man in a red track suit, who instructed that the class would be starting their basketball section that day. After changing into their clothing, their gym class went by without too much noise from Ellie, though they got plenty of stares, and not only from El. Marceline bet that this was the first time that most people had seen her smile genuinely as they watched while she and Bonnibel shot baskets; Bonnie was surprisingly good at the sport, which she annoyingly attributed to physics, whereas Marceline blamed her own skill on her height alone. Bonnie tried to teach Marcy how to use physics to get a perfect shot every time with no success, but they still found themselves enjoying themselves. In the locker room after class, the two were surprised when Ellie came up to them after they had dressed.  
“Listen, sorry for saying that stuff, I didn’t, like, mean it like that,” The girl’s words would have been nice to hear, however her tone told the other two that they were empty.  
“If I believed that, I would forgive you. If you actually start feeling sorry you can try again, but until then, you can stay away from me.” Marceline was starting to see that it wasn’t just herself that the girl stood up to; Bonnie was just that strong of a person that she wasn’t going to have people walk over her, no matter who they were. They left El standing there with a shocked expression; Marceline found a strong sense of pride in the pink-haired girl as they exited the locker room.  
“Thanks for that,” she said, her hand going up to her neck, ”that was probably better for everyone involved than what I had planned.” Bonnibel rolled her eyes at the implication, taking the girl’s elbow from her, halting her nervous habit, and wrapping her arm in it instead.  
“Right, were to then, all-mighty and terrifying Marceline?”  
“Willow tree?” she offered with a smile, “promise I won’t smoke”  
“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Bonnibel smiled up at the other girl, “I have to grab my chemistry book from my locker though.”  
“Simon gave you homework? On the first day?” Marceline inquired; her eyebrows raised.  
“No, I would just like to get a picture of what we’re going to be studying this semester and get ahead before I fall behind .” Bonnibel let go of the taller girl’s arm as they ascended the stairs.  
“Nerd” Marceline proclaimed once again, shaking her head.  
They quickly got the book and made their way outside towards the willow tree that they had been to before, where once again Marceline laid out her black and red blanket. They sat in silence for a while before Marceline brought out a worn black notebook and scribbled some words down in it.  
“What’s that?” Bonnibel leaned over to see if she could take a peek at it, but Marceline quickly pulled it away.  
“Song lyrics” she said, with a warning smile to the other girl, holding the book to her chest.  
“Am I going to hear them tonight, then?”  
“You just might Princess. But enough of that, can I ask what brought you to Ooo?” Marceline put the book back in her backpack and settled into the same relaxed position as earlier in the day, with her elbows supporting her and her legs crossed. Bonnibel looked over at the woman and had to admire the way that she was laying. Her head fell back, eyes closed and her black hair becoming a pool on the ground beneath her. The way that she sat on the ground exposed her midriff slightly, causing Bonnibel’s heart to flutter. She had almost forgotten that Marceline had spoken until one of her honey eyes opened and caught her staring, causing a toothy smile to break out on Marceline’s face.  
“Oh, sorry, uhm, do you want the real reason or the reason I’ve been telling everyone else?” With that, Marceline sat up and faced the other girl, elbows going on her knees and leaning towards her.  
“Real reason, please,” She said, preparing for the story. With a deep breath, Bonnibel started.  
“My dad and I moved here because he got a job as the Regional Manager of the Kingdom Candy factory in town, but the reason that he took the job in the first place is that…” Bonnibel looked up at the other girl, whose eyes had furrowed in concern, before looking back to the blanket, “At the end of last year, my mom and brother died; they were on a walk after my dad and her had gotten into some argument, Neddy was autistic and he had a meltdown so my mom decided to give him some fresh air and a short walk; it usually calmed him down, and sometimes he would see a dog while they were out, which he loved. A drunk driver came out of nowhere and hit them on the curb. Last month was the anniversary of their death, and my dad and I decided that we were never going to be able to move on if we stayed in the house with all of their things so…he took this job, and here I am, here we are” she finished her story, gesturing around her. When she met the other girl’s eyes, she realized that she had tears in her own. Marceline reached across and wiped them off of her cheek, smiling sadly at her.  
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, thank you for telling me though. I lost my mom too; it was just me, Mom and Dad though, I can’t imagine what it was like losing a sibling and a parent.” Marceline’s tone was like honey dripping, and calmed Bonnibel immediately.  
“How did it happen? If you don’t mind?” Bonnibel said as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.  
“I don’t mind, I was 10,” she started, “it was cancer, so everyone in my family knew it was coming, I got to say goodbye, but…it’s hard. It’s different without her around. And like, every once in a while, I forget that she’s even gone, have you ever gotten that?”  
Bonnibel nodded, “Especially in the first few months. I kept on thinking, ‘I should tell mom about this’ or ‘Neddy would love this song’, and then realize that there was no mom or Neddy to show or tell anything.” When Marceline saw the tears start to form in the other girl’s eyes again, she pulled her into a hug, which the pink-haired girl greedily returned. After Bonnibel calmed down, Marceline kept her in her arms and leaned against the tree, the smell of the other girl’s strawberry shampoo surrounding her as Bonnie clung to her torso. Marceline had never felt so effortlessly comfortable with another person; she considered texting the band's group chat and telling them to cancel practice, but as lyrics flowed into her mind, she realized she would have to do a lot of work before that night.  
“I have to go to practice soon here,” Marceline said reluctantly after a few minutes. Bonnie got up from her spot in the other girl’s arms and faced her.  
“That’s fine,” she said with a smile, “Thank you, for today. It was one of the most interesting first days that I think I will ever have in my life. And thanks for...this.”  
“Not a problem, Baeder, it was my pleasure to show you around,” she said, giving one of her two-finger salutes, “and…thanks for not letting me be an ass to you. You’re coming to the show tonight?”  
“Yeah, I wouldn’t miss it, I’m determined to see what’s in that notebook of yours,” Bonnibel got up from the ground, helping Marceline up. As the other girl folded up her blanket and put her backpack on to leave, Bonnibel found herself struggling to keep words in.  
“See you tonight, then, Princess.” The taller girl walked up and took her into a hug one last time before turning away. When she got a few feet away, the other girl ran and caught up to her,  
“Hey, wait,” the other girl stopped and looked at her expectantly, her head cocked to one side.  
“What’s up, Princess?”  
“I didn’t ask you to hang out because I wanted to tell you my terrible traumatic past,” the sentence made Marceline raise a brow.  
“Yeah, I mean I kind of figured, but uhm, then why did you ask to hang out?”  
“You seem like an amazing person. I’ve never met someone so annoyingly fun to be around, it’s so easy to talk to you, and every time today that I’ve seen you lounging on a doorframe waiting for me with that stupid grin it’s made me want to smile right back, and I want to spend more time with you, yeah, but I also needed to tell you this before it came out some other way, and I heard that you dated Phoebe so I’m not that concerned about how you’re going to take this, but Marceline, I’m gay. And I understand if that freaks you out and you don’t want to hang out anymore, but I can’t just not tell you, so —” Marceline cut her off with a finger to her lips.  
“Chill, Bon. I’m more than okay with that,” she said with another of her winks and toothy grins, “See you at the show tonight.” And with that, she left the field, leaving Bonnie to over-think and over-analyze the meaning of a wink, once again. 


	6. Cigarettes and Mint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, we're 6 chapters in and we're almost through one day. Fluff ahead.  
> The song used in this chapter is Deep by Julia Michaels; highly recommend taking a listen. I made a minor tweak to the lyrics to match the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hi again. I took the weekend off, but here's another one.  
> Also, I didn't edit this one as much as I normally do, so if there are a shit ton of mistakes plz don't attack me.

Bonnibel placed her keys in the dish next to the door and went to her father’s study, knowing he would probably be tying some things up for the day. She knocked and waited for his call before entering the room. It was impeccably clean, but that was no surprise to Bonnibel—he’s the one that she got it from, anyways. He looked up from his papers, glasses perched on the tip of his nose, which he quickly pushed back up as he relaxed to meet her.  
“Hey Bells, how did your first day go?”  
“Really well, actually. I met some people at lunch, we’re going to go to a diner tonight if that’s okay.”  
“Of course, yeah, go, hang out with your new friends,” he said with a dismissive wave, “Meet any girls?” his right eyebrow lifted as his face took on a mischievous look. Bonnie only rolled her eyes at the look. It was no secret to either of her parents when she came out to them as a lesbian in the 7th grade. All through her life, she had doted on and crushed on girls; when most people in her grade were obsessed with Captain Jack Sparrow, she went on and on for weeks about Elizabeth Swan. When she finally got the courage to come out to them, they laughed and asked her when she finally figured it out. Since then it has been a constant wave of them trying to set her up with random classmates, which didn’t go away once her mom died. If anything, her dad took the hint and doubled down to make up for the loss.  
“Actually…I think that I did,” she nervously leaned on the doorframe and looked to the floor.  
“Is that who you were with after school?” She nodded at his questioning, “Well? What’s her name? What’s she like?” Her father was intently leaning on his desk, genuinely intrigued by his daughters love life in a way that only managed to bring redness to her face.  
“Her name is Marceline,” she looked towards her dad, who now had an infectious smile on his face, “I think mom would like her; she’s a musician, she’s actually playing at the diner we’re going to, she’s…different. She makes me smile, dad.”  
“A musician then?” he said, leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms, “Should I be worried?” She rolled her eyes again at that, a smile still on her face.  
“You raised me, dad, you tell me.” He laughed at the statement,  
“So yes, I should be. Right, well, nothing I can do about it now. I have to do quite a bit of work here, but I won’t wait up for you.”  
“Thanks, dad. Did you want me to bring you back a slice of pie? It’s supposed to be to die for.”  
“What did I do to get such an amazing daughter?”  
Her father got up from his desk, enveloping her in a hug. “I’m glad that you made some friends, Bell, have fun tonight, and I would love some of that pie.” He released her from the hug, “when are you going to take off?” he stepped back, leaning against the bookshelf near him.  
“I think my friend Jake is going to be picking me up in an hour to go there, I’m probably going to study for a bit before then.” She said, backing away from the door.  
“Alright, well don’t let me keep you. Have fun tonight, and if anything happens with that Marceline, be safe. I don’t want to become a grandpa at this age.” He winked at her at the end of his statement, causing her to laugh.  
“Sure dad.” The last thing that her father saw of her for the night was the eyeroll that she gave him.  
***  
“Baeder!” Came from the red truck on the curb of Bonnibel’s home. She quickly got into the vehicle, which contained Jake in the driver seat, joined by Finn and Heather in the back, who greeted her as she came into the cab. In the passenger seat sat someone she had never met before, which she assumed, and was confirmed to be Rae.  
“Hey, sorry I wasn’t around to show you around today, but I’m Rae, I heard that you got shown around today by Marceline Abadeer? How was that?” The girl in the seat in front of her had long blonde hair with a single streak of hair that was colored to be a rainbow and icy blue eyes that sparkled with kindness.  
“It’s fine! I heard you weren’t feeling well, but actually, I was kind of glad that she was the one to show me around.” All at once, the car turned to look at her with surprised expressions, except for Jake.  
“I heard that you two were getting pretty close by the end of the day,” he said it casually, leaving the others in the car to look to him instead. “What?” he said, noticing their silence, “Ellie came up to me after last period ended.”  
“Honestly, I don’t think that she’s as bad as everyone thinks. She’s actually really sweet.” When the statement came out, it raised a scoff from Finn.  
“Alright, Bonnie, we’ll take your word for it. You’ve spent more time with her in the past day than we have in the past three years,” Bonnie smiled at Heather’s defense of her.  
“So where are Bea and Phoebe?” Bonnie questioned, noticing the absence.  
“They’re already there, we sent them ahead to grab a table for us,” came from Jake. After a few minutes, they arrived at the diner; it was small, but the lot was almost filled with various cars. They quickly got out of the truck as Jake parked, walking into the diner. The inside was bigger than Bonnie had expected; a bar lined the back of the room, a stage just off to the side of it. Booths lined the windows that surrounded the building, with tables in the spaces between the bar and booths. The group noticed Bea and Phoebe, who had taken up a table near the stage, and took up the seats next to them. Bonnibel was sure to take a chair that faced the stage, knowing that she wasn’t only here to get to know her new friends. She greeted the two girls already sat at the table, recapping her day once again to the whole group, leaving out the intimate moments that her and Marceline had shared together. The group talked some more before placing their orders—Bonnibel was sure to order pie to go for her dad—sometimes struggling to hear one another over the crowd. After an hour, the sound of microphone feedback cut through the noise, silencing the crowd and drawing their attention to the stage. Marceline hopped onto the stage, her long black hair flowing around her carelessly. She had changed since Bonnie had seen her last, now sporting long black high-waisted leather pants and a simple grey crop top that showed off her midriff, causing Bonnibel’s breath to catch and stomach to drop. The girl’s bass was like nothing Bonnie had ever seen before; it was bright red and looked like it had been forged from a giant axe. She strolled up to the mic, lazily taking it into her hand as the rest of the band emerged.  
“Right, hey y’all,” she began, her voice like honey again as she seemed to seduce the crowd, “Give a hand to Keila on guitar, Bongo on the drums, and Guy on the keyboard. I’m Marceline, and we are Marceline and the Scream Queens. But tonight, we’re going to take it down to a whisper.” Marceline whispered into the mic, causing shivers to run down Bonnie’s spine. The band started their song list, and Bonnie couldn’t take her eyes off of the girl. Her voice was silk as she sang, her body moving along to the music, causing Bonnie to melt into her chair. If her friends were talking around her, she was oblivious. After the third song, Marceline finally found Bonnibel in the crowd and locked eyes with her, singing only to her. To say that Bonnie was entranced would be an understatement. Song after song came and went with Marceline only singing to her, her voice enveloping her with velvet and seducing her with her sound. When the final song ended, the band left Marceline on the stage, Keila giving her a hug and whispering something in her ear before walking off, and Guy bringing his keyboard to the front of the stage, setting it next to her.  
“Give it up for the Scream Queens, y’all!” a roaring applause came through the crowd at Marceline’s exclamation.  
“Thank you, thank you. I’ve got one more song before I leave you tonight. I just wrote it today, so don’t be dicks, everyone.” The crowd laughed, and Bonnibel found herself wanting to lean more forward in her seat, but had no more room to do so. Marceline found her eyes again in the crowd before hitting the keyboard, and singing the song that Bonnie now knew was for her.

 _I'm tryna come up with a systematic approach_  
_To love you and let you go_  
_But you're cloudin' up my judgement every time_  
_You give me chills when you look at me like that_  
_I don't know how I feel_  
_Nobody, nobody's deep, deep, deep, deep_  
_Deep, deep, deep_  
_Somebody left me feeling empty_  
_And somebody ripped me at the seams_  
_But you're bringing back all my feelings_  
_You're bringing back all of my feelings_  
_I'm deep divin' into your emotions_  
_And sometimes, I think I might be broke_  
_But you're bringing back all my feelings_  
_You're bringing back all of my feelings_  
_And I fuckin' love, I fuckin' love it_  
_It's becoming less_  
_Less about what I know and more about what I think_  
_I think that I go crazy every time I think of your lips on mine_  
_Oh my fucking God, I wanna change my mind_  
_But oh, you've got it in so deep, deep, deep, deep_  
_Deep, deep, deep_  
  
Marceline ended the song a minute later with a bow from the applause, making sure to give Bonnie one of her famous winks and a suggestively toothy grin, leaving the other girl pool in her seat  
After the last song ended, Bonnie came back to life to see her friends all gawking at her.  
“Holy shit, that explains it,” came from Jake across the table.  
“Wow Baeder, so that’s how you made it through today? By seducing her?” Finn’s mouth was agape next to her. Noticing the other’s various surprised faces, she turned beet red.  
“We may have had a moment or two, or three…” She was surprised when a laugh erupted from Phoebe.  
“Honestly, I was a little surprised that she didn’t maim you from what you told us at lunch, but the way she looked at you afterwards, when she wanted to talk to you? Yeah, I’m not surprised after what I just saw.”  
“She practically undressed you from up there!” Came from Bea, their eyebrows were still working hard to meet their hairline.  
“I’m surprised that Marceline even has clothes with the looks this one was giving her,” Rae said, raising an eyebrow.  
“Well, you going to go see her or what?” Heather was leaning back on her chair nonchalantly.  
“Wait, so you guys don’t even care? That I’m gay?”  
The whole table shook their heads.  
“I’m bi,” said Phoebe, raising her hand.  
“Non-binary!” Bea eagerly raised her hand as well.  
“We like all colors of the rainbow here,” Finn said eagerly.  
Bonnie had never felt so loved and accepted into a group, but her feelings were cut short by Phoebe.  
“She usually hangs out behind the building, there’s an exit behind the stage if you want to go, uhm, ‘talk’ to her.” She used air-quotes, causing the rest of the group to snicker. Bonnibel rolled her eyes at the accusation but still rose from her chair and walked towards the back of the stage, earning applause and even whistle from the table. As she left the building, her gaze was immediately drawn to Marceline. The girl was sitting on the top of a picnic table on the edge, legs dangling from the side, surrounded by her bandmates and laughing. Bonnibel was upset at first to see her smoking, but as she propped herself on the doorframe the same way Marcy had throughout the day, she found herself amazed at the sight of it; the way that her lips wrapped around the cigarette, how the smoke fell from her lips as she blew the smoke out from her lungs. After a few puffs, Marceline noticed her on the doorframe and said something to her bandmates. They looked towards her and gave a small wave before leaving the small area through a gate in the back. Bonnie pushed herself away from the doorframe and made her way to the other girl, who was putting her cigarette out on the table and placing it into the ashtray that sat on its top.  
“So, that what you were working on today, then?” Bonnibel said as she walked towards her.  
Marceline nonchalantly shrugged as Bonnie came face to face with her, a small smile on her face and her arm glued to her neck. “Yeah, it was.”  
“You were singing to me the whole time. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that was flirting, Abadeer,” Bonnie looked at her with a mischievous grin playing at her lips.  
“Well, maybe you don’t know better, Baeder.” Bonnie took Marceline’s arm from her neck, gliding her hand down her arm before taking her hand in her own. She squinted and searched the other girl’s brown eyes as if she was looking for an answer to a question she hadn’t asked. She bit her bottom lip before finally speaking.  
“Can I kiss you, Marceline?”  
“I thought you’d never ask,” A smile broke out on her lips, but was quickly interrupted. Bonnie reached up, snaking her arms around Marceline’s neck and stood on her tip-toes to meet her lips. Marceline gasped at the contact, but after a moment, she grabbed the girl around the waist and clambered to stand with her on the ground as her heart pounded. Bonnie was quick to make good out of the situation, pushing her against the table as she tasted her and wove her hands in raven hair. She never thought that the taste of cigarette and mint could taste so good, and maybe it was just the source of the taste, but she found herself needing more, her body pressing against the other girl in need. She ran her tongue along the girl’s lower lip, asking for an invitation to come inside, which the other girl greedily gave, taking her tongue in and meeting it with her own, deepening the kiss. Marceline turned Bonnie around, lifting her gently so she could sit on the table instead of straining to reach her. Bonnie wrapped her legs around the other girl’s torso when she was settled, drawing her closer. She tightened the grip in her hair, causing Marceline to let out a soft moan and grip the girl tighter, moving her hands up Bonnie’s sweater and placing her hands in the divot of her spine, reveling in the softness of her skin. They continued in their bliss, their bodies firing with the electricity between them until a noise from the door behind halted them.  
“Uhm, Bonnie? We were just taking off, but you look a little…busy,” Finn was standing at the doorway, his eyes shielded by his hand with a to-go box in the other.  
“I can take her home, Mertins.” Marceline was panting, but the words still made it to him, as they saw him nod aggressively before leaving the box on the ground and going back into the diner. The two girls looked at each other, knowing that they both did not want to go home.  
“I better return you to your dad, Princess.” Marceline tucked a stray hair behind Bonnie’s hair, smiling up at her.  
“Probably a good idea,” she said, smiling at the gentle gesture, “Don’t want to ruin my pristine reputation, eh, Abadeer?” she was now smirking.  
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Baeder,” A small laugh escaped Marceline, warming Bonnibel’s body despite the breeze. Marcy grabbed her by the waist, kissing her lightly once more before picking her up off of the table and setting her down on the ground.  
“So, I hate to be the person to do this, but I’m going to be awake all night if I don’t ask,” Bonnie started before taking a breath and looking into the girl’s eyes, “Where do we go from here?”  
“Well my place would be great,” Marceline said with a mischievous grin. Bonnie rolled her eyes with a smile before scolding her with a look.  
“Fine, fine,” Marcy’s hands went up in fake surrender before moving to lace them in Bonnibel’s, “I’d like it if this was more than a hot make-out session behind a diner if that’s what you're asking...and if it's fine with you.”  
“It’s more than fine with me, Marcy” Bonnibel raised up and placed another kiss on Marceline’s lips, reveling in the taste and feel; her hands wound around the other girl’s neck, deepening the kiss for a minute before settling back on the ground. She held a finger up, gesturing to wait while she grabbed the box from where Finn had left it.  
“Right, where’s your car then?” She said as she returned to the table. Marceline smiled at her widely, a glint of excitement in her eyes.  
“Oh honey, guessing you didn’t see me leave school today then.” Seeing the look of confusion on Bonnibel’s face, she led her out the gate with her hand, where there was now only a sleek black motorcycle.  
“You want me to get on that?” Bonnibel’s voice was meek.  
“Come on, you’ll be just fine,” The other girl said with a laugh. She walked over to the bike, opening up a saddlebag on the side and taking out a leather jacket as well as a helmet and bringing them over to Bonnie, who was still frozen. Marceline placed the helmet on the ground held the jacket open, shaking it when Bonnibel still hadn’t moved. When she finally processed the situation, she slid the jacket on and took the helmet that Marceline had picked up.  
“If you kill us, I’m going to murder you, Abadeer.” Marceline only rolled her eyes, going back to the bike and putting on a helmet of her own. She waited a moment for the other girl to move, but after a minute, she decided that Bonnie needed a little more encouragement.  
“I mean I’m sure we can find something to do on that table back there, but if you want me to take you home, you’re going to have to get over here, Princess. ” The wink and the way that Marceline said the word ‘Princess’ was what made Bonnibel move from her post; it was lighter and full of affection.  
“Aren’t you going to wear a jacket?” Bonnibel inquired.  
“You’re wearing it,” Marceline continued when she saw the worry seep into the other girl’s eyes, “Don’t worry, I’ll be safe.”  
Bonnibel wasn’t convinced, but seeing no other option, clambered on top of the bike behind Marceline, screeching and clinging onto her waist when it came to life.  
“Hold on tight, Princess.”  
The ride was terrifying at first, but Marceline kept to her word and kept them safe, driving the speed-limit and following traffic signs. After a couple of minutes, she felt Bonnibel relax, her grip on her lightening.  
“Okay, Baeder, now that you’re alive, where the hell am I going?” Bonnibel was quick to answer, and within a few minutes, they were outside of her house. Bonnie got off of the bike as soon as Marceline said she could. “Thanks for not killing me,” she said as she took off the helmet and jacket.  
Marceline scoffed lightly as she got off the bike, “No problem.” She put the spare helmet in the saddlebag before taking off her own and putting on the jacket.  
“You’re going to have Rae show you around for the rest of the week,” Bonnibel nodded at the statement, urging Marceline to continue, “They usually don’t care much about first week buddies after the first day, but after having me tote you around all day today I’m sure they’re going to want you to hang around Rae for a couple of days, which is cool, but uhm, I wanna see you again.” Her arm was back to her neck and her eyes were avoiding Bonnie, who had a smile on her lips.  
“Sit with us at lunch then,” Bonnibel said as she took Marceline’s hand, commanding eye contact. She was met with a grimace on the other girl’s face.  
“I don’t know, Bonnie. It’s not really my scene.”  
“Come on, it’ll be fine,” Bonnie begged, lips pouting. Marceline’s eyebrow went up at the expression.  
“Are those puppy dog eyes?”  
“Are they working?” Bonnibel retorted, copying the response that Marcy had given earlier in the day.  
Marceline laughed gently at the response, “Kind of,” she sighed, “Fine. Text your friends. If they say it’s okay then I’ll sit at your stupid table, but I’m not promising that I’ll like it.”  
“If you hate it and need to leave, we can go to the willow, how about that?” Bonnibel smiled.  
“Can’t we just go to the willow in the first place?” Marceline’s voice was now an endearing whine.  
“Hush, Abadeer. Everyone thinks you’re a serial killer or something. If you don’t show them that you aren’t, they’re going to be concerned for me.” A smirk played on her lips despite her serious tone.  
“Fine, but I’m not denying the serial killer charges if they ask,” a smile broke out on Bonnie’s face at the words, and she hugged her tightly before starting to walk away. She was five feet away when she ran back, “Oh! Can I get your number?”  
Marceline laughed, “Making out with girls before you have their numbers; classy Baeder, very classy.”  
They exchanged numbers, and before they parted again, Bonnie tipped up and kissed her quickly, bringing a blush to the taller girl’s cheeks before saying a quick goodbye running into the house in front of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consent is sexy, y'all  
> Timeline will be moving faster past here, otherwise we're going to end up with hundreds of chapters, and I ain't about that.  
> P.S—I originally wrote this chapter on Friday and it was just full of Bubbline smut, but figured it was way too soon for that after taking the weekend off. Srry, not srry.


	7. The day after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunch. Gym. ????  
> Also, a clarification to ease any confusion: BMO is NB in this fic, and uses any pronouns, so you may see me refer to them as "he/she/they" throughout. This is not because I forgot they are nonbinary, but because that's how I am seeing them within that scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, or Happy 3rd day of Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate. This is my mediocre gift to you. Thank you all very much for your patience, a lot has happened in my life since the last update; a breakup, like 2 heartbreaks, getting into a relationship, another semester of college, and now that I'm on break and have nothing to do, well, here we are. So thank you, for the kudos, for the bookmarks, for the comments. They mean the world. I know I'll never have a regular update schedule (sorry) but I'll try and keep them more common than that giant gap I just left you with. Leggo.

“So, she said she wants to sit? With us? Without any violence?” Bea was nervously fiddling with his fingers, his eyes were cautious as they looked into Bonnie’s.  
“Yes, Bea, without violence. Honestly, she’s not that terrifying. She’s actually a bit of a marshmallow.”  
“Don’t let her hear that,” Phoebe chuckled, settling in at the lunch table.  
Bonnibel’s second day was going seamlessly. Rae was, unsurprisingly, a way better first-week guide than the delinquent, brooding, distracting one that she had the day before. She gave her actual useful information, such as: her teacher’s names, the locations of their offices, an actual map of the building, and not things like: half-assed directions, a blanket, or a cigarette butt. Rae was quick to give Bonnie her phone number, as well as follow her on all social media so that she could contact her whenever she wanted. The day was made easier when Bonnie found out that Rae shared the same passion for the sciences as her. Rae was currently engrossed in a pile of syllabi from the first day she had missed as others started to file into the table, making sure to keep a spot open next to Bonnibel.  
“Don’t let who hear what?” Jake called as he plopped down next to Rae. She sighed as his tray knocked down one of her papers, rolling her eyes with a smile as he picked it up with a small apology.  
“Marceline, apparently she’s a big softie and we don’t know it.” Finn was already half-way through his meal on the other side of the table from the two.  
Bonnie rolled her eyes and went to her phone  
_B: Are you on your way?_  
_M: Affirmative. Gotta psych myself up for the upcoming hell, be there in a minute._  
_B: Drama queen. It’s the table like right in the middle of the room_  
_M: Believe me, I know, sweetie. Be right there_  
Bonnibel didn’t have time to question the response, or the new name, as she was pulled into the conversation around the table surrounding weekend plans. A few minutes later, the table grew quieter as they noticed Marceline enter the cafeteria. The whole room seemed to notice. Any other person would have to say “excuse me” a thousand times to get to the center of the room, but Marceline floated through the room effortlessly as people shoved themselves into their tables to get out of her way. While she was somewhat baffled, Bonnie couldn’t help the dumb smile that came to her face as she got closer, a smile that widened when she noticed Marcy was struggling to keep one of her own in.  
“Hey, Marce!” Phoebe chimed from beside Heather. The rest of the table smiled and waved, saying their hellos as she slowly pulled the chair out and floated down into it.  
“Hey Pheebs, Hey you,” she elbowed Bonnie lightly,” skip any classes today?”  
Bonnie rolled her eyes and heard a small tut come from the side Rae was on  
“No, and you can make that the first and last time you ask me that, because it’s not going to happen”  
“Damn, I thought I taught you better. Hey Rae, how about you let me have her for a few more days, yeah?” she peered over Bonnibel to look at the rainbow-clad girl with a mischievous lopsided grin.  
“Not going to happen, Abadeer, I need a study buddy this semester; AP Chem is already kicking my ass and I’m pretty sure Bonnibel could pass right now if you gave her the final” Rae looked up from her syllabus and smiled lightly, "good try though," Marceline flopped back into her chair at the rejection.  
“I don’t know, I might just have to steal your study buddy for myself,” Jake scoffed at Marceline’s statement.  
“Since when do you study?”  
“Since my dad decided that I don’t get the keys to my bike without a 3.0”  
“Oof, good luck, when did he come up with that?” came from Phoebe.  
“After I almost got arrested for El’s car,” she sighed, “It’s been a bitch trying to get him to lighten up. I might actually need your help, Bon. That is, if you’re you know, willing, or want to, or whatever” Marceline softened as she looked at Bonnie, her fingers discreetly picking at the threads in her jeans.  
“Yeah, of course, I actually used to tutor at my old school, plus I’m used to teaching delinquents” She winked at the other girl, laughing lightly when she heard a small huff escape Marceline’s nose.  
“Is that usually how you get tutors, Marceline? You know there’s a center for that at the school, you don’t have to go around making out with the smart kids to get them to teach you.” Finn’s sarcastic comment earned a laugh from Marceline, who lightly threw a bun at him from across the table.  
The rest of the lunch period went by quickly as the group realized that Marceline wasn’t going to threaten them if they spoke. Jake quickly got to talking about the possibility of a camping and hiking trip later that semester, which fueled a list-making party that lasted until the bell rang, much to Marcy's chagrin.  
_________________________________________________________  
“So, were you actually serious about tutoring me? Because like, I’d really like to take you out on my bike more” Marcy was lounging at the finish line, as she had been for the past 3 minutes, when Bonnibel ran up, immediately dropping to the floor.  
“What?” She said between deep breaths, it came out as a wheeze, which caused a smile to break across the lanky girl’s face.  
“Tutoring me? You’d actually do that?”  
“Yeah, absolutely, always did have a thing for a fixer-upper” How she could joke around when she sounded like she was about to pass out, Marceline had no idea.  
She scoffed, “Right, well how about you fix yourself up first there, sweetie. I’ll text you later?” She got up and left the room when she saw an exaggerated nod come from the very red face in front of her, not bothering to get permission to leave from the coach. She would have a hard time keeping her eyes to herself if Bonnibel got in that locker room with her, and for once, she didn’t want to fuck up.  
_________________________________________________________  
_K: How was lunch with the prep crew?_  
Marceline huffed at Keila’s text before sending her own  
_M: Fine, they were actually kind of nice. Mertins made a joke and I didn’t want to kill him? Weird day, honestly_  
_K: Aww, big bad wolf is becoming a teddy bear, huh_  
_M: stfu. You coming over this weekend?_  
_K: Wouldn’t miss it for the world, your dad still going to gone?_  
_M: No, I thought I would see if my dad wanted to rage with me. Of course he’ll be gone, dingus._  
_K: Smartass. You bringing twinkle toes?_  
_M: Idk if it’s her scene, but I’ll let her know it’s happening_  
_K: How suave, let me know. Gtg, work, text you tomorrow!_  
Marceline threw her phone down on the bed next to her. Her father owned pretty much half of the town’s real estate and was always looking to invest in other areas. He was usually gone for a week or so here and there every month, which was fine with Marceline. The two were so alike and yet so dissimilar that they usually got into an argument if they had a conversation for more than two minutes. The time apart did their relationship well, and on top of that, having the house to herself meant having a space for parties. While the majority of the school tended to avoid her at all costs, half of their fear was from physical harm, while the other half was fear of being blacklisted from her house. She had a general rule: leave her alone throughout the week, and you get an invite to her parties when she feels like throwing one. And with everything going on in her life, she felt like a party was in order. She didn’t know whether it was out of spite of her father’s ultimatum, or out of joy of having a new friend (and possible girlfriend? she pushed the thought away), but she knew that either one would suffice as a reason, so she didn’t spend too much time thinking about the why. She was, however, thinking about the who.  
She had never invited Jake and his group to her house; she had thought about it a couple of times but realized that if anyone were to call the cops, it would probably be someone from that group. Phoebe has tried to advocate and vouch for them in the past, but she had never budged. Except now. She picked up her phone again, quickly creating a group chat and hoping that their numbers hadn’t changed in the past few years.  
_M: My Dad’s gone this weekend. Saturday; BYOB._  
She went back to her contacts and hesitantly tapped on Bonnie’s contact card, quickly hitting call before she could talk herself out of it.  
“Hello?” Bonnie’s voice was excited through the phone  
“Hey, so, uhm, I can’t really talk for long, I have to procrastinate my homework, but I just wanted to let you know I’m going to be having a party on Saturday. If you wanted to come. You don’t have to, I understand you probably have like, studying, or whatever, but I invited your friends too. My dad’s going to be gone and everything. It’s on Saturday. Did I say that already?” She trailed off, her hand scratching at her neck.  
Bonnie laughed on the other end.  
“One second,” she heard a rustling on the phone, then some tapping, before Bonnie returned ”I’d love to come, but what kind of party are we talking about?”  
“It’s uhh, It’s a BYOB situation, I invite the majority of the school. But you don’t have to drink. Or if you wanted to you don’t have to bring your own, I can like, share with you? If you want? If you even want to drink? Or like, if you don’t want to share, or even come, then—”  
“Marcy, stop,” she chuckled,” Yes, I’ll come to your delinquent party, and yes, I will share with you. I’ve had like 10 messages on my phone from my friends since we started talking. All about this party. I’d be insane to say no. I’ll talk to my dad about it later tonight, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”  
“Oh, right, cool, awesome, I’ll uh, I’ll let you get to talking then”  
“Do your homework, Marceline,”  
Bonnie melted at the sound of excitement in Marcy’s voice as she hung up. From the messages on her phone, she could tell that this party wasn’t going to be like any she had gone to at her old school. But she didn’t need her dad to know that.


End file.
